Hail to the Chief [article]

Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!
Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine!

-- "The Lady of the Lake" by Sir Walter Scott

"Hail to the Chief" sounds forth as the President of the United States arrives at any formal occasion. Who would guess that its origins lay in Sir Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of the Lake," which narrates how a Scottish Highlands clan loses its heritage and land to an imperialist invader?

Published on May 8, 1810, Scott's work secured the author international fame
and broke all records by selling 25,000 copies in eight months. The narrative's
adventurous plot and carefully drawn characters were ripe for stage production.
In the following year at least three productions were mounted in London theaters
and one in Edinburgh, Scotland. The latter, produced by Edmund John Eyre, also
opened in Philadelphia's New Theater on January 1, 1812, with music "partly
composed, and partly selected, by Mr. J. A. Jones." Among the tunes that Jones
selected to include was James Sanderson's "Hail to the Chief," written for one
of the London productions.

Sanderson was the conductor of London's Surrey Theater orchestra and wrote
many songs for local theatrical productions. He set "Hail to the Chief" to the
words of Stanza XIX of the Second Canto of Scott's "Lady of the Lake," a section
referred to by the poet as "The Boat Song." The poem's "Chief" was the Scottish
folk hero Roderick Dhu, who strove to protect the Douglas clan from their enemy,
King James V, but died at the monarch's hand. The story apparently had a particular
resonance in America during the War of 1812 because it explored conflicting
values while acknowledging both the good and the bad aspects of each contending
system. The first U.S. sheet music for "Hail to the Chief" was published in
Philadelphia under the title "March and Chorus, 'Hail to the Chief,' in the
Dramatic Romance of The Lady of the Lake," at about the same time the
play ran.

"Hail to the Chief" was first associated with a Chief Executive on February
22, 1815, when it was played (under the title "Wreaths for the Chieftain")
to honor both the belated George Washington and the end of the War of 1812.
Andrew Jackson was the first living
president to be personally honored by "Hail to the Chief," on January 9, 1829.
The tune was among a number of pieces played for Martin Van Buren's inauguration
ceremony on March 4, 1837, and for social occasions during his administration.
As one party-goer recalled:

The Marine Band...is always ordered from the Navy Yard and stationed
in the spacious front hall, from which they swell the rich saloons of the palace
with "Hail to the Chief," "Wha'll Be King but Charley," and other humdrum airs,
which ravish with delight the ears of warriors, who have never smelt powder.

It was Julia Tyler, the wife of President John Tyler, who first requested that
"Hail to the Chief" be played specifically to announce the President's arrival
on official occasions. The tune was included in certain nineteenth century musical
instruction books and the future First Lady, Sarah Childress Polk, studied it
as a young woman. It was played at her husband James Polk's inauguration but
she, perhaps more than others, ritualized its use. As the historian William
Seale stated,

Polk was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed. At large affairs the band...rolled the drums as they played the march...and a way was cleared for the President.

President Chester Arthur was not fond of the tune and asked John Philip Sousa to compose a new herald. Sousa, then Director of the Marine Band, responded with the "Presidential Polonaise" - nonetheless "Hail to the Chief" endured. President Truman, an amateur musicologist, spent time tracing the origins of the piece and in 1954 the Department of Defense established it as the official musical tribute to the U.S. President.

The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill
Were busy with their echos still...